Influence of Intellectual Capital on the nexus between Value-based Leadership and Performance of County Governments in Kenya

Abstract: Various studies have examined different aspects of organisational values, such as value-based leadership behaviours, ethical leadership, and the impact of these values on employee performance and governance. However, there is little research evidence on the aspects of the roles of intelectual capital as a mediating factor in the influence of value-based leadership on the performance. Many scholars have previously focused on a number of variables and how they influence performance but with more focus on individual employee performance at the expense of the mediating effect of employee attitude on the impact of value-based leadership on overall organisational performance. Moreover, in Kenya, since the advent of devolution in 2013, a number of management scholars have studied performance but with little focus on the link between value-based leadership and its influence on the performance of County Governments in Kenya. This study set out to examine three issues around the overall objective of the influence of value based leadership on performance of County Governments in Kenya. This included; To determine the influence of VBL on performance of County Governments, To establish mediating role of employee attitude in the relationship between VBL and performance of County Governments, and To examine moderating role of intellectual capital on the relationship between VBL and performance of County Governments. The study was guided by Resource-Based View Theory (RBVT), Social Exchange Theory (SET), and Social Learning Theory (SLT) and used mixed methods design employing the use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and tools and collected data from purposively sampled respondents from the 47 county secretaries and 47 chairpersons of County Public Service Boards. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis, while Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics by way of means and standard deviations as well as inferential models including simple regression analysis. The study finds that intellectual capital, comprising elements such as knowledge, skills, experience, and adaptability, had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between Value-Based Leadership and county performance.